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Does Surplus Participation Reflect Market Discipline? An Analysis of the German Life Insurance Market

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  • Martin Eling
  • Dieter Kiesenbauer

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to analyze whether the level of surplus participation affects customer demand. We use multivariate linear regression models and data on surplus participation, new business, and lapse for the German life insurance market from 1998 to 2008. We find a significant positive dependence between surplus participation and new business growth as well as a significant negative dependence between surplus participation and growth of lapse volume. Overall, these findings indicate that customers do react to changes in product characteristics, which might be seen as indicative of market discipline. Our results are important for insurance company managers, regulators, and boards of insurance associations. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2012

Suggested Citation

  • Martin Eling & Dieter Kiesenbauer, 2012. "Does Surplus Participation Reflect Market Discipline? An Analysis of the German Life Insurance Market," Journal of Financial Services Research, Springer;Western Finance Association, vol. 42(3), pages 159-185, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:jfsres:v:42:y:2012:i:3:p:159-185
    DOI: 10.1007/s10693-011-0113-z
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    Cited by:

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    2. Hombert, Johan & Möhlmann, Axel & Weiß, Matthias, 2021. "Inter-cohort risk sharing with long-term guarantees: Evidence from German participating contracts," Discussion Papers 10/2021, Deutsche Bundesbank.
    3. Marcos Escobar & Mikhail Krayzler & Franz Ramsauer & David Saunders & Rudi Zagst, 2016. "Incorporation of Stochastic Policyholder Behavior in Analytical Pricing of GMABs and GMDBs," Risks, MDPI, vol. 4(4), pages 1-36, November.
    4. Umi Widyastuti & Erie Febrian & Sutisna & Tettet Fitrijanti, 2019. "Factors Explaining the Market Discipline of Sharia Mutual Funds from a Behavioural Finance Perspective: A Theoretical Approach," International Journal of Economics & Business Administration (IJEBA), International Journal of Economics & Business Administration (IJEBA), vol. 0(3), pages 198-212.
    5. Srbinoski Bojan & Strozzi Fernanda & Poposki Klime & Born Patricia H., 2020. "Trends in Life Insurance Demand and Lapse Literature," Asia-Pacific Journal of Risk and Insurance, De Gruyter, vol. 14(2), pages 1-46, July.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Regulation; Market discipline; Life insurance; Surplus participation; New business growth; Lapse; G22; G28; G38;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G22 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Insurance; Insurance Companies; Actuarial Studies
    • G28 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Government Policy and Regulation
    • G38 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Government Policy and Regulation

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